FrogPrincesse

As promised here is the Negroni battle, Tempus Fugit's Gran Classico Bitter (originally from Turin but made in Switzerland) vs. Campari. Neat first Equal parts (mini) Negroni with an orange coin On its own, Gran Classico is not as intense as the Campari. Campari has a much brighter orange flavor (similar a little bit to Cointreau vs. PF dry curacao). And the color is the other obvious difference. The Gran Classico Negroni was more herbal and had a syrup-like quality, almost like honey, that is not there in the Campari version. The orange flavor in the Gran Classico Negroni was more subtle and overall it was a toned-down Negroni with a slightly sweet finish. I thought my husband may like it (he abhors Campari) and very bravely he had a sip, but it was still too bitter for him. In comparison, the Campari Negroni starts extremely bright and continues with an intense orange flavor, some sweetness, and a memorable bitter finish that makes you long for another sip. Campari is the clear winner for me in the Negroni. But I am sure that I will find other uses for the Gran Classico. It may be time to revisit the Boulevardier, Old Pal, Left Hand, Right Hand, and so on. Or maybe as an Aperol alternative?

You are very welcome Dejah. Nice looking soup! I was lucky to have ginger that was very fresh and particularly fragrant, so I did not need to add anything else.

Avant-Garde Ale (Lost Abbey). Beautiful golden orange color. Some citrus with a lot of complex flavors that keep coming and surprising you. I detected green apple, butter, bread, herbs and spice. Great texture. A very long and slightly bitter finish. I am a fan.

San Diego Magazine just published an interview with Erick Castro from Polite Provisions, together with a link to a very promising drink menu. They are scheduled to open next week.

Just a quick note that Bottlecraft has just opened a second store in Normal Heights. It's around the corner from Urban Solace on University. I had a chance to visit this weekend and they have a great selection of local and non-local beers. I picked up a few local beers (Lost Abbey, AleSmith, The Bruery) and some Belgian beers as well.

I am about to try that experiment at home very soon. I will make sure to report my findings!

I want to make these.. what buns did you use? I used caramelized onion rolls from a local bakery. I have a craving for pork burgers all of a sudden :-)

I'm in for the Saturday dinner. I will bring my cocktail gear!

Are you making cocktails for us to go with the dinner on the Saturday of the chocolate workshop? Great idea :-) I am sipping on something right now that happens to have a ton of unexpected chocolate notes. This should be fun!

Excellent! I use El Dorado 5 in tiki cockails. Recent uses: Ancient Mariner, Navy Grog. It's a really good deal at less than $20 a bottle.

Sounds like a plan! (I think I see a line forming at the door...)

The tomato sauce with olive oil and chopped vegetables from the Essentials, served with linguine. It was nice to have some texture in the sauce. I liked the taste too; it was a little sweet from the carrots and quite rich thanks to the liberal amount of olive oil.

Another successful tequila + orgeat pairing, this one a variation of Cameron's Kick. Charo's Kick (Anthony Smith): tequila, lemon juice, orgeat, mezcal. Creamy, tart, floral, with a smoky finish. Very approachable.

I use the recipe from BeachBum Berry Remixed (scaled-down) which, at first glance, looks very similar to the recipe that you linked in your post. I made it many times and don't get curdling. I get some settling in the container but the orgeat is ready to be used after a brief shake. How did you strain your orgeat? Maybe you had larger particles left after straining that are causing the separation in the drink? I like to use a fine synthetic (nylon) cheesecloth.

Beets and oranges with mint and orange flower water The original recipe calls for tangerines. This is pretty much as simple as it looks. I loved the flavor combination, the earthiness of the beets with the citrus and the pop of flavor from the mint. The dressing had olive oil, red wine vinegar, shallots, citrus juice and a touch of orange flower water. The salad is finished with a little spritz of orange flower water.

Let's call it a Vieux Carré "variation" then. See, it's a great cocktail because it's great even when you mess it up a little! ;-)

I know, this is ridiculous. I have enough stuff to open an eGullet speakeasy! ;-)

Another Vieux Carré fan here. Delicious. Just for fun, this is how NOT to serve a Vieux Carré (from a local restaurant). A little on the watery side, with bonus ice crystals and foam (I knew it the second I heard the cocktail shaker). Despite these issues, it was still a decent cocktail (at least in comparison to that other thing in the background which was very sadly named after The Professor). Much better version at home...Templeton rye and Pierre Ferrand 1840 cognac (very good combo in this drink), Dolin sweet vermouth, Benedictine and Angostura bitters.

I've been cooking a lot as usual but have quite the backlog, so bear with me... First, a December (!) recap. We had fresh squid ink linguine with a bunch of clams. You can never have too many clams; I usually buy 2.5 to 3 lb for the two of us. I made evening garlic soup in the manner of the Correze (recipe by Paula Wolfert). I grilled some grass-fed local (Palomar) rib eye steaks that were amazingly tender and served it with smashed red potatoes from my CSA. I made a large batch of zingy carrot-ginger soup for a friend who was recovering from surgery. I was exhausted one night and made breafkast for dinner with the fantastic hickory-smoked bacon from Benton's. I got into an Indian kick for a while and cooked a couple of recipes from Vij's. First there were these prawns in coconut masala. Then this local grilled grouper with a tomato-yogurt broth and more smashed red potatoes. I made a few care packages for my friend including this a lemon risotto with almonds and fennel fronds. I made David Lebovit'z roast chicken with caramelized shallots again, this time with mashed sweet potatoes. A my husband's request, sausages braised in tomato sauce with pasta. To celebrate the arrival of my mom to San Diego for the holidays, I cured a brisket (Suzanne Goin's style) and served it with sauteed kale, steamed potatoes & horseradish creme fraiche. I grilled a few poussins and served them with roasted balsamic-glazed Brussels sprouts. I roasted some bone marrow and served it with a little herb salad a la Fergus Henderson for a little (not exactly light!) pre-dinner snack. We were invited for the Chrismas meal, but I brought this chocolate Dacquoise that was really fabulous (recipe from Pierre Herme). In an attempt to recover from the festivities, I made a pomegranate, pear and arugula salad with what I found in my CSA. We got a lot of squash in the CSA and I made a roasted kabocha squash soup that tasted of chestnuts, with garlic croutes. I made linguine carbonara with Benton's bacon and fresh pea shoots. Onion soup les Halles. Foie gras au torchon cooked in duck fat to finish the year on a high note, served with an excellent Champagne that the recipient of one of these jars gave us to thank us.

Soupe au Vin (wine soup). You start with a nice bottle of Bordeaux (or California Cabernet in my case) and you boil it for 5 minutes. Crisp some lardons/diced bacon (Benton's) in butter, add minced onions and leeks, sweat for 10 minutes, add a little bit of flour. Add the wine, some homemade chicken stock and a bouquet garni. Cook for 45 minutes. Discard the bouquet garni and season. Serve topped with a little bit of "raw" wine and a slice of rustic bread. Very nice, like a thinner version of the boeuf bourguignon sauce. One thing I will do next time will be to degrease the soup slightly as there was a lot of bacon fat.

My turn to show off. I bought a few things this weekend at Hi Times. I had to extract myself before spending all my money there. Mind-blowing selection and this is just a tiny sampling. It's a good thing I don't live too close... From left to right: large bottle Angostura bitters (restock), Coruba dark rum, Appleton 12-year rum(restock), Clement VSOP rhum agricole, El Dorado 5-year rum (restock), JM canne syrup, Del Maguey Vida mzcal, Small Hands gum syrup, Gran Classico Bitter, Benedictine, Daron fine calvados (restock), House Spirits coffee liqueur, Delord armagnac Napoleon (I have the 25 year already, this one is for mixing), Buffalo Trace (restock), Willet 5-year single barrel rye.

A couple of drinks from the book. Trader Vic's Derby Cocktail with Buffalo Trace bourbon, Dolin sweet vermouth, Pierre Ferrand dry curaçao, and lime juice. Very good with the dry curaçao. Not too many cocktails with this combo. The Oriental comes very close I think? The Communist with Beefeater gin, More blood orange juice, Luxardo cherry liqueur, and lemon juice. Nice and tart. There was almost a tangerine flavor to it (from the cherry + blood orange combo).

KD1191 - between the Tanqueray Malacca and the Noilly Prat ambré, I think you are just taunting us!

I haven't (yet) but I imagine that it would work nicely.

I was eyeing this recently, but shied away fearing it might be too sour with no sweetener in it at all. I take it was not too harsh for your taste? It was just right for me. I liked the fact that it only used 1/2 oz of maraschino liqueur (which acts as the sweetener), as it can easily overpower the drink. But note that the Oro Blanco grapefruit that I used (technically a pomelo and white grapefruit hybrid) may be sweeter than a regular white grapefruit. I would recommend trying the cocktail as is, and adding a little bit of simple syrup if you find it too tart.